[Watford] UKUUG Press Release -- UKUUG seeks legal advice on BSI's OOXML decision

[Mark Stewart]

Well I'm impressed by the press release and story behind article and have to
agree this is a very important topic, I need to re-read this and become more
familiar with issues.

Quick question but do you know how the BSI approve fast tracking and are you
suggesting they have been given a brown paper bag full of 50s from MS. What
would there motivation be for doing this when there are already 1000
comments?

-Mark


On 08/04/2008, Alain Williams <addw at phcomp.co.uk> wrote:
>
> What has kept me busy recently.
> This is important for users of free software
>
> ******
>
> Press Release -- Tuesday 8 April 2008
>
>
>
> Last week the BSI (The British Standards Institution) decided to approve
> the
> fast tracking of the Microsoft sponsored OOXML format (DIS29500).
>
> UKUUG is concerned that this decision is against the public interest for
> several reasons:
>
> *  The current draft attracted over 1000 unique comments
> (i.e.  corrections), of
>   which the largest list (635) was from the BSI itself.  How does the BSI
> then
>   approve fast-tracking, in the absence of a revised draft?
>
> *  Accepting an unfinished draft into the fast track standards route can
> only
>   serve to harm the sector to which the standard will apply, as well as
>   undermining wider faith in the standards bodies who are allowing this to
> happen.
>
>
> *  Given the absence of a single implementation of the standard (Not even
>   Microsoft are willing to state when they'll implement it) it seems hard
> to
>   justify the fast tracking on the basis of urgent market need.
>
> *  Rejection of the Fast-track is not rejection of the standard.  If this
>   standard were put on the slow track, there would then be time for all
> involved
>   to examine the 6000+ pages in the detail that such an important standard
> needs
>   if we are to rely on it into the future.
>
> *  To be fast-tracked a proposed standard needs a high level of consensus,
> whereas
>   OOXML has been marked by high levels of controversy.
>
> That being the case, the UKUUG is seeking legal advice on how best to
> proceed in
> order to convince the BSI to reconsider its decision and instead raise an
> objection to the fast-tracking of the standard within the 2 month window
> allowed
> by the ISO.
>
> Alain Williams, Chairman of UKUUG, said:
>
>    "We are very disappointed that BSI has chosen to take this decision
> against
>    the advice of its technical committee.  The format used for storage of
> documents
>    will affect our lives for decades to come, and it is imperative that
> standards
>    such as OOXML are given a rigorous review rather than being
> rubber-stamped by
>    the BSI.  Where would we be if the original Magna Carta was unreadable
> ?"
>
> Previous proprietary document formats have become difficult or impossible
> to
> read within little more than a decade.  There is no reason to believe this
> trend
> will not continue if allowed so to do.  Without open standards for our
> documents
> we are likely to inflict a 'digital dark-ages' on our descendants when
> they
> discover that they are unable to read any of the sources for their
> history, such
> as Government records, acts of Parliament, property title deeds,
> scientific
> research papers, and family histories.  They will not forgive us if we
> fail to
> act to protect them now, but instead allow another generation of poorly
> specified proprietary standards are allowed to become widely adopted.
>
> UKUUG calls on all that share our dissatisfaction with the BSI, to join us
> in an
> effort to save them from their folly, and so ensure that lasting harm is
> averted.
>
> -- ENDS --
>
>
> Editor's Notes:
>
> UKUUG is the UK's Open Systems User Group, for people who care about open
> IT
> standards and the systems that implement them.  UKUUG promotes education
> and
> understanding through its newsletter, regular briefings and
> conferences.  It is
> independent of any industry groupings and not-for-profit.  It values
> intelligence, thoughtfulness and long-term thinking rather than immediacy
> and
> froth.
>
> BSI: Since its foundation in 1901 as the Engineering Standards Committee,
> BSI
> Group has grown into a leading global independent business services
> organization.  The Group now operates globally through its three
> divisions: BSI
> British Standards, BSI Management Systems and BSI Product Services.
>
> For further information about UKUUG visit:
>        http://www.ukuug.org/
>        Tel: 01763 273475
>
> For an overview of the story behind this visit:
>        http://tinyurl.com/2r3bkw
>
> --
> Alain Williams
> Linux Consultant - Mail systems, Web sites, Networking, Programmer, IT
> Lecturer.
> +44 (0) 787 668 0256  http://www.phcomp.co.uk/
> Parliament Hill Computers Ltd. Registration Information:
> http://www.phcomp.co.uk/contact.php
> Chairman of UKUUG: http://www.ukuug.org/
> #include <std_disclaimer.h>
>
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>
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